Conservation of Gharial in India
The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a species of crocodile endemic to the Indian subcontinent. They are the only reptile in the category of critically endangered in the river systems of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
In India, gharials were distributed across the Indus, Ganges, Mahanadi, Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy river systems, and 80 years ago, their population was estimated to be around 5,000 to 10,000; however, this number plummeted to the brink of extinction in the early 1970s due to various factors, including killing and habitat destruction.
Various conservation programs were launched to protect this species, including both ex-situ and in-situ conservation efforts. Several conservation breeding centers were open to breed them in captivity and then release them into the various river systems of their past distribution. In 1975, a specific project on all three crocodilian species in India was launched with the name ‘Project Crocodile’. Breeding and rearing in captivity and then releasing in the wild was the aim of this project.
Various stretches of several rivers with existing Gharial and mugger crocodile populations were given conservation protection status after the start of this project. Being top predators in river ecosystems, gharials and mugger crocodiles are crucial for the health of the river.
The first sanctuary declared after the project was launched was the ‘Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary’ near famous Dudhwa national Park and tiger reserve. Later, between 1975 and 1982, several other sanctuaries were established with the aim of protecting the remaining population of species, which include National Chambal Sanctuary, Satkosia Gorge Wildlife Sanctuary, Son Gharial Sanctuary, and Ken Gharial Sanctuary. All these sanctuaries are in the Ganges River system, except for one that is in the Mahanadi River system.
This conservation initiative helped to recover the population, but still there are various challenges faced by the authorities, which include illegal sand mining, illegal hunting, eggs destroyed by feral dogs, etc. Initially, the project was very successful, and the population recovered and rose to 1,500. But in 1991, the government withdrew funds, which stopped captive breeding and the collection of eggs from the wild to rear in captivity.
These changes affected the population recovery, and again, it plummeted to a 58% loss of the species population from all its range. Now it is estimated to be around 800 individuals in the wild, according to WWF India.
Though the conservation breeding and egg collection are not happening now because the project was stopped, the conservation awareness and efficient protection by the forest department and various conservation organizations have led to reports of sightings of gharials from several places that were previously the stronghold of the species. Recently a gharial has been sighted in Brahmaputra River in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve by tourists and forest officials after a gap of several years. Another sighting was reported from the river Ganges in Mirzapur near the Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary.
Gharial in Kaziranga
River Brahmaputra and River Diphlu both flow through the Kaziranga tiger reserve, and a gharial was spotted last month at the confluence of both rivers. Being part of the Brahmaputra-Meghna river system, the area was a stronghold of gharials around 75 years ago. They were considered locally extinct from all the 16 rivers of the Brahmaputra River system after the 1950s due to various factors, which include habitat loss and change in the river dynamics.
According to the director of Kaziranga, Dr. Sonali Ghosh, the occasional sightings of the Gharial were reported on the River Brahmaputra from Dibru Saikhowa National Park, Manas National Park, and the Dikhaw and Subansiri River basins of the Sibsagar and Lakhimpur districts of Assam.
The recent surveys done by the Kaziranga Reserve authorities, along with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation of India (TSAFI), in a 160 km section of the river have led to several sightings of a single female Gharial in the last few years, including one in January 2026.
The recent sighting, which was on April 26, was by a tourist guide, Shishukanta Nath, who photographed the Gharial on a sandbar of the Brahmaputra River near the Diflumukh forest camp in the Burapahar range of the Kaziranga tiger reserve. This place is at the confluence of River Brahmaputra and River Diphlu. Following this sighting, reports of the same female gharial from the same area have increased.
The road ahead
Occasional sightings of Gharials in various river systems ensure that the habitat can still support the population if it is well protected. In Kaziranga, the forest department plans to introduce a few individuals from the breeding population of Chambal to provide the single female gharial with a male partner and additional breeding females, thereby helping to establish a viable breeding population once again in the Brahmaputra–Meghna river system.